Thesis studies video games, gamers

Callieann Jackson, Neosho, who graduated last May with a bachelor’s in psychology, investigated video gaming in her senior research thesis, “The Relationship Between Video Game Type and Eyewitness Memory.”

She says her research seems to show that gamers with a more well-rounded selection of games, including puzzle games, role-playing games and action games have the best results because they have more experience in encountering variables.

Her paper cites research and data collected from 60 undergraduates at MSSU. After playing for 20 minutes, participants were given a video questionnaire about the game they played to complete.

Jackson’s first hypothesis- that those who played games frequently more often recognized information given to them in a questionnaire – was supported by her on-campus research.

Her paper is currently undergoing further revisions and has been provisionally accepted for publication in the Journal for Psychological Inquiry.